In the Meantime
by TrixieFirecracker
Summary: A bit of a retcon of season 2 that includes what happened when Mac used her cell phone interceptor to listen in on Cassidy's conversations.
1. Chapter 1

"So I'm doing chapters 12 and 13 and you're doing chapters 14 and 15?"

There was the sound of a sigh and a voice replied, "Yeah. This jigsaw activity is the worst. What was Wu thinking?"

Cassidy's laugh could be heard. "I dunno, man. Listen, I got a lot of reading to do tonight, so I'll talk to you later."

"Alright. Later."

The conversation ended. Mac sighed and rubbed at her eyes. This was crazy, there was no way she could justify her behavior right now. She never should have borrowed that cell phone interceptor from her friend at Radio Shack. Of course, if she was going to start with "I should have nevers," she never should have brought up the whole physical thing with Cassidy. She never should have gotten into a relationship with him. And she never should have decided the younger Casablancas couldn't possibly break her heart. Shit, it was eight o'clock. She needed to get home and finish her term paper for history class. Mac sighed again and gazed at the Casablancas' home. She wondered what room was Cassidy's. He'd never let her into his inner sanctum and it had bothered her that he was unable to let her in to his life completely. It still bothered her.

"I guess that's not an issue now," Mac said to herself as she started her car. She couldn't believe she'd spent the last four hours sitting outside Cassidy's house, using her cell phone interceptor and listening to the various conversations that came out of the house. Driving home, Mac marveled at what she had listened to for the past few hours. She'd heard Kendall make a spa appointment and arrange to sell something else Richard "Big Dick" Casablancas had left in his hurry to get out of the country. Dick had conducted a booty call to someone named Bettina and then tried to initiate phone sex with Madison Sinclair. The phone sex thing had really squicked her out because she always thought about how she could be Madison and Madison could be Cindy. The idea of letting Dick put his hands anywhere on her body made her physically sick. She was glad when Madison shut that conversation down and had told him she'd call him tomorrow night.

As always, Mac's thoughts turned to Cassidy. Mac was convinced that there was someone else in Cassidy's life. There had to be someone else, right? He was your average red blooded teenage boy, there was no way he'd be turning down a physical relationship unless he was getting satisfaction somewhere else. Mac turned her car down the familiar streets that led to her home and went through her mental checklist of any other girls who had even shown a passing interest in Cassidy. So far she had one candidate: a freshman girl in gym who had asked Mac if she and Cassidy were dating. Mac had told her they were and the girl had said, "He's hot" and had tried to initiate a high five. Apparently, Cassidy was a heartthrob among the younger women in the school. Mac had given her a strange look and headed to gym class with Veronica.

Mac parked her car and walked into her home. Passing through her living room, Mac saw that her parents had fallen asleep on the couch and probably hadn't heard her come in. Good. That meant they would have no idea how late she came home. Mac headed to her bedroom, tossed her book bag onto her bed, and logged into Neptune High's email system. The freshman girl's email account was entirely too tempting to not hack and so she'd run an algorithm while she was at school and hoped to come home and see what that tramp was emailing Cassidy. She'd been unable to hack into Cassidy's account. Really, she'd guessed a few passwords and stopped. It seemed wrong. She was already listening to his phone calls, but she had to draw the line somewhere.

Success! The password sat at the end of several rows of code and with shaking fingers, Mac logged into the girl's account. After looking through the girl's inbox, sent email, and her trash, Mac found nothing that went to Cassidy's account or from his account. She was back at square one. Mac looked over at the cell phone interceptor she brought in from her car and knew she'd be back outside the Casablancas' again tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been an especially dull evening with few calls being made. Dick had made a phone call to Madison and was out for the evening. Kendall didn't seem to have arrived home yet. It seemed Cassidy was alone in the house. Mac had spent quite a few minutes glaring at the only light that she could see coming from the Casablancas house. Truth be told, she was still angry at Cassidy. She'd talked Veronica's ear off about how out of left field the breakup had come from. Veronica had told her she needed to stop obsessing about it and Mac knew she was right, but the breakup was only a week old. She figured she had a few more days of stalking left and then she'd be ready to move on.

Mac had set up the cell phone interceptor to work with the speakers of her car and was jolted awake when Cassidy received a call. Mac realized he was mid conversation with someone else.

"A couple of Sharks had to know about it. They'll come forward. Things like this don't stay secret."

"Yeah, but, I mean, do you guys really want people to know about it?" Beaver was speaking in a pleading tone. Mac had never heard him sound so pathetic.

"He's sick and what he did to us was wrong." The other voice sounded so familiar to Mac.

"Look, please don't drag me into this," Cassidy continued to speak in a panicked voice.

"You're already in it. You'll thank us later." The line went dead and Mac looked up at the light glowing from what she surmised was Beaver's room. From this far away, she couldn't hear anything, but she knew Cassidy had to be upset. What were they talking about? Sharks? What had happened that Cassidy didn't want anyone knowing about? Mac knew she shouldn't, but she got out of her car and decided she'd knock on his door. She had to know if he was okay. There was a hoodie of his that was still in her car that she could say she needed to give him. Mac had started walking closer to the house when she heard the front door of the Casablancas house slam. Feeling frightened and rethinking her plan, Mac hightailed it back to her car. Mac got back to her car as Cassidy's raced past her and Mac thought she was in the clear. She tossed the hoodie into the back seat of her car and was prepared to get back into the car when Cassidy backed his car up to where she was parked.

"What are you doing here?" Cassidy asked angrily.

Stalking you. Trying to figure out what went wrong. Mac's mind was a blank. She opened her mouth to say something and nothing could come to mind. "I am, uh, tutoring Madison Sinclair's little sister." She licked her lips and spoke again. "They want her prepared for standardized tests. I made a simulation for their computer to use."

Cassidy looked at her and nodded. "Oh."

He started to shift his car into gear again when Mac decided she might as well give him back the hoodie he'd left in her car. "Wait! You left a sweatshirt in my car. I was planning to give it to Dick, but I might as well give it to you now." Mac reached into her back seat and pulled the hoodie out. She hated giving the sweatshirt back. It was like really admitting that they were over. It had been comforting to have the sweatshirt in her back seat for those few days. She'd come back to her car and it would smell faintly of Cassidy's cologne, having been warmed up from sitting in her car all day.

Cassidy took the sweatshirt and tossed it onto the passenger seat next to him. "Thanks," was all he could muster up to say to her. Mac noticed that he couldn't even look her in the eye.

"You seem upset. Are you okay?" Mac leaned closer to Cassidy's car and put her hand out to touch his arm that had been hanging out of the car window. Cassidy flinched and pulled his arm back into the car.

Cassidy nodded and stared straight ahead. "Thanks, I'm fine."

"Okay, but if you need anyth-" the rest of Mac's sentence was cut off by Cassidy.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Cassidy put his car in gear and sped off.

Mac sighed and sank onto the curb next to her. What was wrong with him? What was wrong with her? Cassidy had indicated he wasn't interested in her anymore. Why did she keep trying? Tears welled up on her eyes and she sat on the curb for a few minutes, giving into the tears. Across the street she heard a door close and footsteps approached her. She looked up with tear filled eyes to see who it was.

"Hello, Mrs. Sinclair," Mac mumbled.


	3. Chapter 3

Mrs. Sinclair sat on the curb next to Mac. "Are you okay?"

Mac swiped at her eyes with the corner of her jacket and asked, "How did you know I was out here?"

Mrs. Sinclair sighed and waited a few moments to speak. "I know we agreed we wouldn't tell you girls what happened, at least until you were eighteen, but once I saw you and Lauren together in the library last year, I haven't been able to stop wondering about you." She hesitantly patted Mac's knee. "When you came to our house that day, I knew you had found out the truth. I just wasn't ready to come face to face with the daughter I had lost."

"And now?" Mac looked at her birth mother's face. "What's changed?"

Mrs. Sinclair stood up and motioned for Mac to follow her. "Come inside the house. Madison and her father aren't home. It'll be just you and me."

Mac stood and started following Mrs. Sinclair into the house. "What about Lauren?"

"She's asleep," Mrs. Sinclair said as she opened the door to her home. Mac followed her. Mrs. Sinclair led her through a series of hallways until they came to the kitchen. Once there, she sat down at a small table and Mac sat down on a chair across from her. "I've seen you sitting outside our house for the second night in a row. I thought it was time we talked."

In her mania to figure the enigma that was Cassidy, Mac had missed the fact that she'd spent the past two days sitting outside her birth parents home for hours at a time. "To be honest, I wasn't spying on you. I was spying on someone else."

"Who?" Mrs. Sinclair asked.

"Cassidy Casablancas. We just broke up," Mac said and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I don't want you to think I'm some creepy girl who can't get over things. It's just that I . . ." Mac hesitated about whether or not to tell Mrs. Sinclair the truth. Perhaps it would be easier to confess to a complete stranger. "Why we broke up was just so weird."

"How so?"

Mac looked into eyes that were similar to her own. "We'd been dating for four months. The closest he's ever come to touching me was when he brushed some dog hair off my butt, so I brought it up to him and he freaked out. Broke up with me on the spot. I just can't figure out what I did wrong."

"Well, he's younger than you, isn't he? Maybe he's not ready." Mrs. Sinclair thought for a moment. "From what I've seen and heard Dick say, the family isn't very nice to Beaver. He's always kind of been this shy, sort of twitchy boy. He doesn't really fit in with the rest of them."

Mac nodded. "I know. I just don't understand him. Like, at all. Then I heard something weird tonight. He was talking on the phone to someone, I don't know who, and they talked about someone who was sick and what he did to Cassidy was wrong." Mac chewed on her lip a moment before speaking again. Does that mean what I think it means?"

Mrs. Sinclair looked taken aback. "It sounds like it. No one knows?"

Mac shook her head. "No. He was begging the guy he was talking on the phone with to keep him out of it. What do I do?"

"You have to go to the police about what you heard. They'll talk to Beaver, they can figure it out." Mrs. Sinclair reached out to hold Mac's hand, but Mac pulled away.

"I can't. I was using a cell phone interceptor when I heard that conversation, what I was doing was illegal. And Cassidy would kill me if I went to the police." Mac shook her head. "He sounded so desperate on the phone, I can't do that to him. Not yet." Mac checked her cell phone and got up. "Listen, I have to go. My parents are probably wondering where I am."

Mrs. Sinclair nodded and led Mac back to the front door. She brushed Mac's hair back from her forehead and gave her an awkward hug goodbye. In a daze, Mac walked back to her car and found Cassidy sitting on the curb next to her car. She sat down beside him and Cassidy wrapped his arms around her. He began sobbing. "I'm so alone."


	4. Chapter 4

Cassidy stood up and pulled Mac up with him. Taking her by the hand, he started pulling her towards his house. "Where are we going?" Mac asked as she struggled to keep up with his pace. Cassidy didn't answer. Dropping her hand briefly, Mac watched as he punched a sequence of numbers into his home alarm and tugged her inside.

Cassidy led them up a staircase and down a dark hallway. He opened the door and began shedding his clothing. "What are you doing?" Mac asked him in a horrified voice and put her hands over her eyes.

"I need some sleep. Just stay with me, I can't stand being alone right now. You can sleep over there if you want," Cassidy gestured to an uncomfortable looking cot across the room. Clothing was piled on top of it.

Annoyed, Mac asked, "Why don't you sleep there and I get your bed?"

Cassidy pulled the covers over his head. "It's my bed. I get to sleep in it."

Mac stood up and walked to his bedroom door. Placing her hand on the doorknob, Mac looked back at Cassidy. "There's no way I'm sleeping on that lumpy cot when you're sleeping in the lap of luxury over there." Cassidy stared at her with sad eyes from his bed. "You want the company, I don't."

Cassidy quirked an eyebrow at her and scooted over in his bed. "Fine."

Mac walked over to the bed and sat on the edge. "You don't have to act like you're doing me a favor, you know," she said as she pulled off her shoes.

Cassidy rolled over so his back was to her. "Isn't this what you wanted? To get me in bed?"

That was it. Mac had had enough. She gave an aggravated groan and began putting her shoes on again. "Goodnight, Cassidy. I hope you'll be able to sleep. By yourself."

Cassidy immediately rolled over in bed and put his hand on his arm. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Please stay."

Mac looked at Cassidy. "Don't do that again. I'm here because we used to be friends. I'm not climbing into your bed in some pathetic attempt to seduce you. I know you're not into me like that." Mac took her shoes off for the second time and stretched out on top of the covers as far away from Cassidy as possible.

Cassidy turned to look at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Yikes, she'd put her foot in her mouth. She meant that he wasn't into her anymore because he'd broken up with her. He'd refused to take their relationship past second base. Mac realized he thought she was making a crack about his sexuality. "You broke up with me, Cassidy. I took that to mean you weren't into me anymore."

"Oh."

Mac reach across Cassidy and turned the bedroom light off. "Goodnight, Cassidy." The whole room smelled like him and it was driving her crazy to be lying in bed next to the boy she loved and not be able to touch him. Mac settled herself into a position she thought she could fall asleep in. She had just started to count sheep when Cassidy nudged her awake.

"I never said I wasn't into you. There's just so much going on in my life. I think it was just the wrong time to start a relationship. I lied when I said you were doing something wrong. It's me. There's something wrong with me."

Mac turned her head to try and look at Cassidy in the darkness. "I'm not going to push you to tell me about it, but if you ever want to talk, I'm here."

Cassidy reached over and squeezed her hand. "I know." He pulled Mac closer so that she was resting her head on his chest. They both fell asleep in minutes.

A few hours later, Mac's cell phone went off, alerting her that it was time to wake up. She took brief shower in the bathroom that was attached to Cassidy's bedroom and snuck out of his room. Walking as quietly as possible, Mac didn't expect to run into Dick.

"What are you doing here, Ghost World? Didn't Beaver kick your ass to the curb a couple of weeks ago?" Dick took in her disheveled appearance and the fact that she was sneaking out of Cassidy's room at 6 in the morning and came to a conclusion. "Oh shit, did you and Beaver do the dirty deed?"

Mac thought about how much shit Dick gave Cassidy for how sexually inexperienced he was. Cassidy was going through something she couldn't understand and Dick's constant teasing only made things worse for him. She was going to take a hit for Cassidy and it was going to suck. "Yeah, we did, Dick."

The shocked look on Dick's face almost made it worth it.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: I'm trying to weave in some of season 2 events, so dialogue is taken from the episode "Nevermind the Buttocks."

Mac had told her parents that she'd stayed late at Veronica's working on their history term paper and barely managed to avoid being grounded until she left for college in the fall. Pulling into a parking space at Neptune High, Mac had looked at the cell phone interceptor on the passenger seat. She wouldn't felt safe with it in her car all day and decided to put it in her school locker. She'd just check on it every period and hope no one took it.

Now Mac knew what a dumb idea that was. Clemmons probably didn't even know what he'd confiscated and yet he took it anyway. And she wasn't going to be able to get it back until the end of the year? That was not going to cut it with her buddy from Radio Shack and she definitely didn't have the cash to pay for it outright. Feeling hopeless, Mac rested her head against her locked and then lightly started banging it into the locker. Maybe if she hit it long enough, she'd bang some sense into her head and stop messing around with this Cassidy situation. Footsteps approached and Mac looked up to see Veronica.

"Mac Attack, what's the haps?" Veronica quipped.

"I got mugged. By my own principal. They took my cell phone interceptor and plan on keeping it until the end of the year. What happened to until the end of the day? Why wasn't that working?"

Veronica shrugged. "Everyone still kept bringing their cell phone interceptors?"

"Is there any chance you can get it back for me? I borrowed it from my buddy at Radio Shack, because apparently I've become a psycho ex-girlfriend and I wanted to listen to Beaver's cell phone calls." Just saying it out loud to someone else made her realize how insane that idea had been. And now she was dearly paying for that fit of insanity.

Veronica gave Mac a long look. "You're judging me." Thank god she hadn't told Veronica how and where she'd spent last night.

"No. I'm judging myself. Why don't I have a cellphone interceptor?"

"Please, respect the business model, Veronica. I do the gadgets. You do the actual espionage."

"I'll see what I can do."

Both girls nodded at each other and headed off in opposite directions.

Later that afternoon, she watched as Veronica knocked slowly on Clemmons' door three times. Butters pulled it open. "That was your knock?"

"The genius is its simplicity," Veronica replied.

Mac watched as Veronica sifted through the box of the confiscated locker booty. She decided she should probably say something to thank Butters for helping her out. "Wow, Butters, this is-this is way cool of you."

"Just so you know, I'm a great dancer." Mac gave him a confused look. "So don't worry about that."

"Oh. O-kay. I'll try not to," Mac said. What was going on with this guy? He was even stranger than usual today.

They watched Veronica dig through the box a bit more. Mac noticed Veronica kept interrupting Butter's odd conversation with her by showing them some of the strange things that were confiscated.

"So, Mac, what color dress are you wearing?"

Dress? Was Butters high? "I'm actually wearing pants."

Butter laughed. "Right. I just don't want the corsage to be, like, blue and the dress is red and you think I'm an idiot."

Was he talking about Prom? Panic set in. "Veronica?" Mac asked as calmly as possible. Was this how Veronica had gotten Butters to agree to help get her cell phone interceptor back?

Veronica held up the cell phone interceptor. "Oh, your cell phone interceptor!"

Mac gave Veronica a dour look. She was going to kill Veronica. She and Cassidy had talked about going, but now that they were broken up, Mac had no intention of going to prom. And now she was going to go with Butters? Mac looked around as she watched Veronica gather up some book for Weevil and rush them out of the room. Could they tell she was screaming inside?

"I'm thinking white limo if that's cool," Butters said as Veronica pulled Mac out the door. Mac said nothing.

It might have been better to be on the hook for that interceptor after all.


	6. Chapter 6

Cassidy watched Mac shelving books from the far side of the library. He'd heard that Clemmons had confiscated something from her locker and she'd had the temerity to take it back. Clemmons couldn't prove she'd been the one to take it or how it had happened, but Mac had been punished nonetheless. One of Clemmons favorite things to make students do was shit jobs no one else wanted to do, like filing endlessly or shelving books in the school library. Cassidy had ended up in the library in an effort to avoid Peter and Marcos who continued to harass him about making a statement to the police to corroborate what they had already told Lamb. Cassidy had decided to pass on that invitation.

He watched as Mac pushed the shelving cart aside and reached into her backpack. She placed a set of earbuds in her ears and pulled out a biography of Ada Lovelace and began to read. Apparently, she had no intention of shelving books and was going to hide out in the library stacks until her time was up. Cassidy grabbed his backpack and headed over.

"So . . . Butters, huh?" Cassidy asked, pulling an apple out of his backpack and taking a bite.

Mac looked up, startled. "Huh?"

"I heard you were going to prom with Butters," Cassidy said as he sat down next to Mac in the stacks.

He heard Mac give a long sigh. "Yes, I am."

"Really, Butters?" Cassidy gave a little chuckle and shook his head.

"So?" Mac gave Cassidy a sidelong glance. She had thought about saying Butters was a nice guy, but thought better of it. Blackmailing someone into going to prom with you, even after the principal figured out that you had raided his office, was a crappy thing to do.

"So I thought you could do better than that," Cassidy finished his apple and tossed it on the book shelving cart. The symbolism of Cassidy and the apple, coming to tempt her was not lost on Mac.

Mac flipped through the biography, trying to feign nonchalance. "Better than what?"

"The guy was pantsed in public," Cassidy shrugged. "He's just kinda a goofball, you know?"

"Yeah, I mean, it's not as cool as hanging out with freshmen and making war movies," Mac said acidly as she pulled out her cell phone to check the time. Thank god, her time in the library was almost up.

Cassidy decided to ignore Mac's dig. "He didn't take back his invitation once he heard you and I had sex? Or hasn't he heard?"

Mac wanted to start laughing. Did he actually think threatening to tell Butters about the sex they didn't have was going to frighten her? He'd be doing her a favor if he could get her out of that date. "Oh please, I know for a fact Dick has been telling the entire school how you 'bagged' me, and Butters doesn't seem to care."

Jealousy surged though Cassidy. "You can't really like him."

Mac shrugged. It was a little fun messing with Cassidy, finally giving him some payback for misery she had endured for the past couple of weeks. "Well, he's got a leg up on the competition."

"Oh, and what's that?"

Mac quirked an eyebrow at Cassidy like he'd done to her so many times before. "He's asked if he should book a hotel room for that night."

Cassidy got up and brushed off his pants. "Like I said before: good luck getting laid." He started to head out of the library when Mac put her hand on his arm.

"Can't we be friends?" Cassidy looked at her and shook his head. "Well, I don't want to be enemies."

Cassidy smiled a little at Mac's joke. "I can't just be friends with you, but right now, we can't be more."

"Don't," she said. "Don't do this to me."

Cassidy shook off her hand, but stayed in his spot. "Do what?"

"You can't keep pulling me in and pushing me away. It's not fair to me."

Cassidy nodded. "I know." Cassidy's cell phone buzzed. He pulled it from his pocket and checked the screen. Peter had sent him another message.

"You know to figure out what you want, Cassidy."

"I don't know what I want," Cassidy whispered. He turned and walked out of the library and away from Mac.


	7. Chapter 7

Alterna-Prom had sucked so far for Mac. She'd been picked up in a Hummer limo and eaten dinner on a pirate ship. She didn't even want to discuss Butters' outfit. He looked like he'd been dressed by a crazy parrot. Mac had had three drinks from the open bar so far and it hadn't taken the edge off the evening for her. She watched as Dick roamed around the party offering the other girls sips from his "party pig." She wasn't surprised when he strode up to her.

"Wanna sip?" Dick offered. He was eyeing the sliding glass door in a way Mac didn't like. Then again there wasn't much that Mac liked about what Dick did.

Mac thought about it for a moment. So far she'd only seen Dick taking sips from it and he didn't seem to have any open sores near his mouth. Mac figured she'd take the chance and took a sip. "This party sucks," she commented after she'd finished swallowing.

Dick nodded. "Tell me about it. You're the first chick to say anything to me that didn't include 'Fuck off.'" Dick took the party pig's straw back and had a long gulp of the beer. "Anyway, you're Beaver's chick, so that doesn't even count."

Mac made a face. "I'm not Beaver's chick. You'll notice that I'm here with Butters." Mac took back the straw from Dick and took another long sip.

"Damn, Ghost World, you can really put that away! Do you have a hollow leg under that dress?" Dick made a grab for Mac's leg and she kicked him. "Ow! Save the rough stuff for Beaver."

"You're disgusting," Mac shook her head and started to walk away from Dick. Or she tried to walk away, but Dick followed her.

"Why are you here with him?" Dick asked.

Mac stopped short and Dick bumped into her. She turned around and rubbed her face in her hands. She absolutely could not handle this situation right now. "Dick, Cassidy and I broke up, okay? That's why I'm here with Butters. He asked and I decided to go."

Dick got a confused look on his face. "You mean to tell me that you and Beaver had nerd sex or played strip Dungeons and Dragons or whatever and Beaver broke up with you? Were you really that bad?"

"Are you kidding me?" Mac yelled at Dick. Why was she holding onto Cassidy's secret? He'd been a total ass to her and now his brother was playing sex detective with her. She had never wished to see Butters more than she did now, but he was busy dancing with some girl whose outfit was as loud as his.

Dick was taken aback by Mac's outrage. "Why are you so mad?"

"Dick, you can't ask people those kind of questions. It's rude. Anyway, why don't you ask Cassidy why we broke up? He's the one who did the breaking up."

"Really?"

"Really. Why are you so surprised?" Mac wondered why Dick had such a low opinion of Cassidy.

Dick shrugged and pulled the party pig off his shoulder. "I dunno. I just figured Cassidy would fall in love with the first girl he fucked." Mac grimaced at Dick's word choice, but Dick ignored it and looked into Mac's eyes. "I can see what he sees in you. You're nice and smart. Pretty too. You get him and no other girl has been able to do that."

Mac was shocked by Dick's kind words. "Why are you telling me this?"

"'Cause he won't tell you that." Dick picked the party pig back up and hoisted it onto his shoulder again. "Anyway, I'm drunk. Usually that's the only time I tell the truth." Dick reached his free arm out towards Mac and for a second she thought he was going to try and hug her, but he reached past her and flicked the light switch for Logan's balcony a few times.

"What are you doing?" Mac asked.

"I just wanted to see if it worked," Dick said and walked away.

Cassidy watched the light from Logan's balcony flicker and figured that was Dick had giving him the signal. His night was just beginning.


	8. Chapter 8

Cassidy pulled up the hood of his sweatshirt and approached the only Hummer that was in the Neptune Grand's parking lot. Butters had to be the only idiot who had wanted to take a Hummer to a party in someone's hotel room. "Hey, you wanna make some easy money?" He flashed the driver several hundred dollar bills.

The driver looked mildly interested and rolled down the window a few inches. "Yeah? How?"

"Go home. Ignore the guy who rented your car for tonight's calls. That's it."

"That's it?" The driver rolled down the window to the car all the way. "Is this a scam?"

Cassidy flashed the guy a grin. "Not at all. The girl who came with the guy who rented this car is someone I'm involved with . . ." Cassidy let his voice trail off. "You know how it is."

The driver reached through the window for the cash. "I got it. How much is that?"

Cassidy pulled the money back from his grasp. "A thousand dollars. When the guy calls wondering where you are, don't answer. And this conversation never happened."

The man nodded and started up the limousine. "What conversation? My mom had a bad fall and I went to the hospital." Cassidy nodded and handed the man the money. The limo made an awkward U-turn in the parking lot and pulled away. Cassidy pulled out his cell phone and sent Dick a text. '_The limo's taken care of. Tell me when you're ready to go._'Now all he had to do was wait for the party to die down. Cassidy walked back to his car and prepared to settle in for the night.

A few hours later, Cassidy was startled awake by the tone coming from his phone indicating he had a text message. He read the message and started the car. He pulled the car up to the entrance to the Neptune Grand and waited for Dick to appear. Minutes later Dick showed up swaying and leaning on Butters. Mac walked slowly behind them and looked annoyed. Cassidy got out of the car and walked over to where Butters, Mac, and Dick were standing. Butters was on his cell phone.

"C'mon, Dick. Let's go," Cassidy made a motion to pull Dick onto his shoulder to help him to his car. Dick leaned heavily on his shoulder and almost knocked Cassidy over. Cassidy looked over at Butters. "Hey man, a little help?" Butters ignored Cassidy and continued with his call. Cassidy looked at Mac. "Something wrong?"

Mac grimaced. "He's been trying to get ahold of our limo driver for an hour. He's not picking up. I think he's going to have to call his dad." Mac looked at the car Cassidy had pulled up in. "This isn't your car. Is this your dad's?"

Cassidy nodded. "One of them. Kendall's slowly trying to sell them off, so I might as well get some use out of them while I can. Too bad it's a two seater, otherwise I could give you and Butters a ride home."

Mac thought about the uncomfortable drive home she was going to have with Clemons driving her and Butters home. It was going to be awkward fending off Butters' advances with his dad keeping a watchful eye on them. She supposed she was going to have to let him kiss her goodnight. Maybe he'd be satisfied with a peck on the cheek. Mac walked over to where Butters had wandered off to and tried to see if she could hear anything about a ride home.

"Did you finally get ahold of the driver?"

"No," Butters sighed. "My dad said he'd drive us home. I suppose we can wait in the lobby until he comes." Butters nodded to Cassidy who was leaning against his car. "What'd he want?"

"He wanted some help wrangling Dick," Mac commented. The longing look she was giving Cassidy was not lost on Butters.

"Why don't you get him to give you a ride home? It's going to awhile before my dad arrives and I don't feel right making you stay here to wait." Butters knew he was fighting a losing fight. Mac wasn't going to be getting over Cassidy anytime soon.

Mac stood up and leaned over to give Butters a soft kiss on his cheek. "Thanks, Vincent." She walked back to where Cassidy stood. He was now making a call on his cell phone. "Where's Dick?'

Cassidy snapped his phone shut and turned around to look at her. "I dunno. He must have wandered off somewhere. I tried calling his phone, but he's not picking up. He's gotta be passed out somewhere." Cassidy opened his phone again. "I'm going to send him a text and call it a night. I've got better things to do than drive his drunk ass home."

Mac watched Cassidy type a short message to Dick and start to get into his car. "Cassidy? Would you mind giving me a ride home? Butters said it would be awhile and I just want to go home."

Cassidy nodded and opened the car door for Mac. "You hungry? There's a really cool all night diner that I discovered last month. You'd like it."

"Yeah, that sounds good." Mac felt her heart a familiar surge as Cassidy started the engine and pulled out of the Neptune Grand's parking lot.

Butters saw them leave just as Dick reappeared in the hotel lobby with a bucket full of ice and a bottle of champagne. "You looking for your brother? He just left with my date."

"Nah, I'm staying at Logan's tonight."

Butters noticed that the swaying that Dick had demonstrated last night was gone. In fact, he seemed completely sober. "Weren't you drunk a few minutes ago?

Dick smirked at Butters. "Nah, bromie. That was just an excuse for Cassidy to come here and take your date home." He punched the elevator button and stepped in. "Night." Once the doors closed, Dick checked his messages. There was a short one from Beaver. _"Thanks for your help tonight. Mission accomplished."_ Dick smiled. Staying sober tonight had been worth it.


End file.
